Chapter Twenty-Eight
Paco stared atSandy as she sat tied to a metal chair, her eyes bulging. Dave sat slumped over in the chair next to her, his face cut and bleeding.
“Let’s try this again,” Paco gritted as he pushed away from the concrete wall. Chains and Army leaned against a long, metal table while War, Bull Dog, and Sniper smoked joints in the corner of the basement room. “What the fuck is Erik’s last name, and how do I get a hold of him?”
“If I tell you, will you let us go?” Sandy asked feebly.
“You got a better chance of leaving this room if you talk.” Paco took out a hunting knife and ran the flat side of the blade over the side of her face.
“Don’t tell him shit,” Dave growled. “He’s not going to let us go.”
Like lightning, Paco’s fist punched his face, and Dave’s head tipped back.
“I thought you were a trucker. That’s what Bobby told us,” Sandy said as she looked at her husband.
“Shouldn’t believe what that fucking scumbag tells you. How do I get a hold of Erik?”
“He has a cell phone, but he won’t pick up unless he recognizes the number.”
“How does he getjohnsfor the women?”
“He puts ads in an internet newspaper—Backstreet.”
Paco looked at Chains who was already tapping the name into his iPad.
“Found it. The site is for employment, houses for rent and sale, and… here it is—the adult section.” He handed Paco the tablet.
Reading the section given to him, numerous names and phone numbers appeared on the left side, and very suggestive photos with names and phone numbers were on the right. Shoving the screen in front of Sandy’s face, he asked her if she recognized Erik’s ads. She looked at them and nodded.
“Which ones?”
Sandy glanced over at her husband again, who still had his head back with his eyes shut. “He made me do this,” she said in a low voice. “I never would’ve done this to Chelsea or any woman, but he threatened and beat me. He got me hooked on coke. I love Chelsea. I never would’ve done this to her. I swear.”
“I’m not gonna repeat myself again. Which ones?”
“You’ll let me go, right? I mean, I’m cooperating with you. I didn’t argue or anything. Not like Dave did. I swear he forced me. Bobby and Erik threatened to kill me if I didn’t do what they wanted. Erik had seen Chelsea at a high school basketball game. She was a cheerleader, and he wanted her real bad. He told Tyler to make a play for her. He did.” Sandy kept rambling on, “Did you know that was the only reason he went out with her? He knew what was going to happen to her. I had no choice.”
Paco grabbed her hair and pulled it hard, making her cry out. He slammed the tablet into her face. “I told you I don’t like repeating myself.”
“Okay… okay,” she sniveled. “The sixth one down on the page. The one that says, ‘Ready to play… are you? Looking for the girl next door?’ That’s his ad. And the next two under it.”
Paco looked at the ad and saw the woman’s age listed at twenty-three. He looked at her pictures and shook his head. “She’s not more than fifteen or sixteen,” he gritted, showing the screen to Chains and Army. They grumbled in agreement.
“That’s fucked,” Sniper said as he came over to take a look. “You want us to take care of these two?”
“No! Please. I helped you out. You promised.”
“I didn’t promise shit!” Paco yelled as he walked toward the stairs.
“Show some mercy. Please,” she sobbed.
Paco turned around and in four long strides he was back in front of her. Again, he yanked her head back by her hair and leaned over real close. “I’ll show you the same fucking mercy you showed Chelsea. She was your blood for fuck’s sake! How the hell do you do that to your family? She loved and trusted you. You’re nothing but a selfish, cold-hearted cunt.” He kicked the chair out from under her and she toppled onto the concrete floor, the metal legs crashing down on her.
“Gut them like the pigs they are,” he said as he left the room. Army followed after him as Paco ascended the stairs.
“You want me to go with you when you snuff out this fucker?”
“Yeah. I want to make sure he gets what’s coming to him. I’ll give him a call and tell him we want two girls for us. Let’s buy a burner phone and get this shit over with.”